MotherReader

Ack! I had a whole post to do about 48 Hour Book Challenge prizes, but it's been one of those mornings. And by that I mean specifically one of those mornings where I sort of forgot that I have to get to work today for a meeting at 1:00 p.m. So, I'm going to do this in pieces and it won't be thorough and I'll remind everyone that 48 Hour Book Challenge isn't about the prizes, but an opportunity to share an experience as a community from the comfort of our own homes doing what we love to do, i.e. read, while also advocating, promoting, and otherwise celebrating diversity in children's and young adult literature in this year's connection to #WeNeedDiverseBooks.

Meanwhile, I'll be going back to my email later this afternoon to pull together the prizes that I know are there but don't have time to write about this very instant. But hey, how about the timing on this lovely package from Abrams Books today?


It's now a prize! See how easy it is to become a prize in the 48HBC? Have something you'd like to contribute? Drop me a line at MotherReader AT gmail DOT com.

Oh, and sign up to participate in the 48 Hour Book Challenge!

With the 48 Hour Book Challenge at the end of this very week, it is time to get prepared. That admonishment was certainly less for my readers than for me, as I have been trying to get it together while navigating a minefield of end-of-school madness added to my usual run-of-the-mill madness. But I'll start with a tease of prizes donated by Ms Yingling and continue with more during the week. So these look pretty pretty good:


There's more to come, for sure. Stay tuned! I'd also like to collect some suggestions for diverse books to explore in our collaboration with #WeNeedDiverseBooks. So if you have a list, post, Pinterest board, or interpretive dance that you can share, well that's what comments are for. (Though obviously, their tumblr page is a pretty pretty good place to start too.)

The official sign-up will go up on Friday, June 6th but you're invited to pop into the comments of the 48 Hour Book Challenge opener for a pre-commitment support group. Remember that you don't actually have to read/blog for 48 hours to participate. Just look to reading a bit more and perhaps a bit differently than you would otherwise and we'll all have a bit of fun together.

Today might have been TeenReader Tuesday, but the teen’s been in endless rehearsals for the high school play and hasn’t had time to read anything but her school assignment, A Tale of Two Cities. Asked to summarize her review of that book so far, she was able to do so with two words:

Hate. It.

Moving on, I’m still in the pre-announcement phase of the 48 Hour Book Challenge, coming the weekend of June 3rd. Why so coy? Well, the official announcement will come after I’ve had a chance to review the rules from last year to make any needed updates or changes. And last week? Spring Break? So not the week to get that done.

But I do have some donated prizes lined up, ready to announce, and am very excited about them. These will most likely be ones that are given to randomly selected participants, because not everyone can aim for forty-eight hours of reading — though it sure is fun to try. Some lucky readers will win signed copies of:

The Latte Rebellion, by Sarah Stevenson
Scars, by Cheryl Rainfield
Dragon Speaker: The Last Dragon, by Cheryl Rainfield
Little Chicken’s Big Day, by Katie Davis

So excellent! I also have donated books for the winner prize packages from HarperCollins’ Walden Pond Press. In fact, I’m opening the box this minute to find...

The Billionaire’s Curse, by Richard Newsome
The Emerald Casket by Richard Newsome
Juniper Berry, by M.P. Kozlowsky (signed bookplate)
Guys Read: Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka (signed bookplate)
Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka (ARC, Sept 2011 release)

And that’s just the beginning, a sampling, a taste of what’s to come. I can already promise some Random House teen titles, like Rotters, Flip, and Exposed. I’m also looking to Book Expo America to line my prize coffers. Of course, if you would like to donate prizes — signed books, illustrator sketches, crafty ventures, etc — contact me at MotherReader AT gmail DOT com.

Perhaps you want to start getting prizes now, instead of say, at the beginning of June. Then check out the Little Chicken’s Big Day Sweepstakes going on week by week starting... well, last week. But there’s plenty more chances to win. For instance, this week offers a signed copy of the book and a baby quilt, handmade by Katie!

While we’re talking prizes — and I did title this blog post with three uses of the word itself — I should mention the ongoing round-up of book giveaways done at Brimful Curiosities and Lori Calabrese’s Fish for Free Book. Wonderful resources for the KidLitosphere.

While I was heading down into Virginia Beach’s first significant snowstorm in twenty years, I left you time to sign in as having finished the Comment Challenge. Last night, I wrote down all the people who wrote on the finish line post here or with Lee Wind, adding a few people who had commented on an earlier post. I numbered the folks who made the 100 Commenter Club, and used Random.org to generate three numbers from that group. After all that, the winner of the prize packages are:

• Abby of Abby (the) Librarian


• Kathy of Inside of a Dog


• Sarah of In Need of Chocolate

Please write me at MotherReader AT gmail DOT com with your address and the prize package you’d most appreciate. An extra prize package was donated from Reading Is Fundamental and I’ve decided to award it to one of the two top commenters: Kelly Polark, who logged in 214 comments! The other big commenter was Kathy Martin, with 223 comments, and who had been randomly selected to win a prize package. Congratulations to all!

I also drew random numbers from the entire group of seventy participants to select winners of prizes just for playing. I’ve tried to make a good match for each, and so...

• Hannah of A Quiet Spot wins a signed copy of Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion sent by the author, Loree Griffin Burns. A great book for homeschool education and projects.


• Camille of Book Moot wins a lovely journal donated by Natalie from Fadeaway Dream to keep track of special days.


• Heather of StorySleuths can start a discussion on older literature vs. new when she receives Heaven to Betsy / Betsy in Spite of Herself, donated by Wendy of Six Boxes of Books.


• Marge of Tiny Tips for Library Fun can get some ideas for storytime projects with What Can You Do with an Old Red Shoe? plus an example of my own recycled magazine jewelry.

Winners, please write me at MotherReader AT gmail DOT com with your address so I can get your prizes send your way.

Thanks again to everyone for being part of Comment Challenge 2010. We hope to see you next January, but we also hope that the commenting bug stays with you for the rest of the year. Read. Blog. Comment.

No, not my donation of Catching Fire. Yours.

As in, would anyone be willing to donate their copy of Catching Fire to the 48 Hour Book Challenge so one could be given out to the winner AND one could be given as a random prize to one of the participants? A long shot for me to ask this question? Probably. But think of all I do for you. (I wouldn’t be a Mother if I couldn’t play with guilt.)

I’ll be back after a trip to the DMV (horrors) with a repeat of the 48HBC rules (pretty much the same), a list of participants (long), and — at midnight — the Official Sign-In, brought to you by Mr. Linky (assuming I can figure it out in time).

Oh, today at BookLights, I’m talking about the three hottest items in kidlit/YA at BEA. I think you can guess at least one.

Edited to add text from Booklights:

Last weekend I attended Book Expo America (BEA) and had a blast. I met some wonderful authors, got tons of signed books, and shipped home a forty-pound box of goodies. For today's Thursday Three, I'm covering the hottest titles in Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Picture Books.

Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins
People lined up in the early hours of the morning to get a ticket to Suzanne Collins' book signing. Others scouted out the 10:00 a.m. Scholastic distribution of the Advance Reader Copy (ARC), not wanting to wait until the September release to read the sequel to Hunger Games. But I didn't realize how hot this title was until I came home and saw bids on ebay reaching over $100. (ARC's specifically say that they are Not For Sale, often on the cover.) A few book blogs offered their copies to readers in random drawings and pulled in over two hundred comments. This book is Twilight-hot. And I picked up an abandoned copy off a lunch table at the convention. Crazy.

Meet Rebecca
by Jacqueline Dembar Greene
American Girl released a new historical character, Rebecca Rubin, a Jewish-American immigrant living in New York City in 1914. Contrary to the Catching Fire fever, this new series by American Girl slipped under the radar for most people I talked to, but it was an entirely pleasant surprise. At the book signing on Sunday morning I was very excited to meet the author and express my delight at a series chronicling the Jewish immigrant experience. I brought the book home and can't wait to read it. The doll is super-cute too. Forget my kids, I want her myself. Seriously.

Big Frog Can't Fit In
by Mo Willems
Another hot ticket was for the new Mo Willems' title, even though it's not available yet. Folks stood in long lines to get Mr. Willems signature on the promo piece for the new pop-up book. I can appreciate the excitement as I'd buy it if Mo illustrated the AIG collapse. (Actually, that might help me understand it.) So not seeing the book yet, all I can say is that the frog is apparently large and doesn't "fit in," one may guess both figuratively and literally. Hence, the pop-up.

I hadn't made it to New York in time for Mo's signing, but as chance would have it, I ran into him on Saturday on the exhibit floor. We talked a bit, and I got my signature and he said the first frog doodle. Or maybe he meant the first frog on a T-shirt. Either way, I'm happy.

Okay, so maybe I didn’t quite get how much everybody wants the ARC of Catching Fire. Reviewer X has more than two hundred fifty comments from people hoping to win a copy. LibrariYAn got more than four hundred submissions in her contest asking for new readers to comment, with the book going to the person who sent the most folks over to her blog. People got to BEA super early, waited in line for an hour, and I just picked up an abandoned copy at a lunch table.

It seems obvious to me now that my ARC of Catching Fire should be a prize in the 48 Hour Book Challenge. But here’s the question: Should it go to the winner of the challenge or should it go to a random participant in the challenge as one of the “door prizes”? I’m torn, because I want to reward the winner with something very special, but I also want to provide incentive for the bloggers who signed up for the 48HBC — more than one hundred participants so far — to commit to the challenge as best as they can. What do you think?

The winner of the book Abigail Spells from the Anna Alter blog tour is...

Boni Ashburn!

Follow the rest of Anna’s blog tour for more chances to win!

For the next two weeks I’ll be talking about the books and other prizes that will be given away during the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Right now I have almost one hundred comments on that post, but not all of them are sign-ups. It’s certainly not too late to put your name in, and it would be very cool to get to a hundred participants. Just sayin’.

Yesterday, I featured an interview with Anna Alter about her book Abigail Spells, and she is offering both a book now (enter for a random drawing in the comments) and later (as part of a winning 48HBC Prize Package.)

Today, I’m featuring a blogger at Saints and Spinners who has found a new artistic calling along with her storytelling. She is making these adorable dolls, and has contributed a Galadriel Fuchsia doll for the winner of the 48HBC. But you don’t have to read until you drop to get one, because you can visit Alkelda’s Etsy Store to buy your favorite or place an order. Along with the flower dolls, there are little caped nature children and more complex dolls. So sweet!

The sign-ups for the 48 Hour Book Challenge are going splendidly, but we can always have more. I thought knowing some of the prizes in the mix might tip the balance for those still deciding if they want to spend the weekend of June 5th reading and blogging. (Who wouldn’t?) So the person who spends the most time reading and blogging will win an trophy in the form of a Jefferson Cup donated by Reading Is Fundamental. The winner will also receive an original sketch from...

Jeff Kinney! Yes, that Jeff Kinney.

I know. I’m excited too. His people confirmed it. I don’t have people... but I do have some great contributors to the prize bonanza for the 48 Hour Book Challenge. The grand prize winner will also receive an assortment of signed books, jewelry, T-shirts from Threadless, and more. I’ll also be able to award second and third place prize packages, too. And there will be some prize winners drawn at random from among all the participants to win personalized, signed books.

The prize books so far include, Trading Faces, by Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy; Abigail Spells, by Anna Alter; Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin; Cold Hands, Warm Heart, by Jill Wolfson; Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass, by Erica Kirov; The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han, and The Art of Reading, by RIF.

I’m planning on going to Book Expo America — just worked out the plans today — so I’ll pick up some other books there for sure. If you have a book or something else that you’d like to donate, please email me at motherreader AT gmail DOT com.

There are three changes to the challenge this year. The first I have already mentioned, and that is connecting your personal readathon to a Greater Good. I plan to donate $1 per hour to the fund for Bridget Zinn and welcome others to sponsor me. You can contribute to this cause as well, or to something else that moves you. You can base it on sponsors, comments, or something else entirely. You can also choose not to participate in this aspect of the 48 Hour Book Challenge, but I heard from lots of people last year who wanted this option and I like the concept.

The other two changes are new. Because we are bringing in more adult book bloggers, I’m taking out the prize that is specifically for the most books read and replacing it with offering second and third prizes for the most hours spent reading and blogging. It probably doesn’t make a difference anyway, because the people with the most time have always had the most books. However, I want people to be able to read longer adult books without worrying about the title tally.

I’m also allowing blog-reading hours to be included in the total hours. Let’s say, a half an hour of blog reading for every five hours of reading/reviewing. This change is to allow participants in the challenge to spend more time seeing what other people are reading, and to allow us to cheer each other on.

Thanks to all of the authors and bloggers who have donated prizes. I couldn’t do this without you. (Remember, email me at motherreader AT gmail DOT com if you have something you’d like to donate.) Also thanks go out to all the bloggers who have been getting the 48HBC out there on their blogs and Twitter feeds. I can tell from Statcounter that lots of people have been coming from other sites just to sign up. This is such a great community and knowing that is what keeps me going when those Bloggin’ Blues strike.

I had wanted to do a post of the prizes on Wednesday or Thursday, but storms hit the DC area and left us without power until 3:00 this morning. And then, of course, it has been complete chaos anyway between school stuff and packing my belongings at my old branch to start at my new branch on Monday. So now, at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, I don’t know where my list of prizes is, like, this exact minute. I’ll be back later to let you know what you’re playing for. Promise.

Melanie Watt’s tour is hot, hot, hot right now. Her character Scaredy Squirrel spoke up over at Big A, little a on Monday. On Tuesday, a clever kid asks the questions over at Book Buds. I’ll have an interview here on Friday with, ummm... sock puppets! Okay, not really. I’m so lame.

The March/April 2008 issue of The Edge of the Forest is up with interviews, reviews, and much, much more. Lately I’ve been lax about writing for this wonderful resource, but I’ll get back on the ball. Soon. If you’re interested in submitting an idea or article, get in touch.

Sign-ups continue for the Third Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge. Don’t make me hunt you down! I’m going to start trolling for prizes, but again, don’t make me hunt you down! Seriously, I’d love signed books, fun jewelry, t-shirts, and notecards. I feel fairly certain that BACA merchandise will make an appearance. Original illustrator artwork, doodles, or even scribbles will make my heart leap with joy. Most of the donations will be combined to make prize packages, so don’t worry that no one would read twenty books in two days for your signed book or Scrabble cufflinks. Drop me a line at motherreader AT gmail DOT com and make me an offer I can’t refuse.

The MotherReader move was not the announcement I had planned to make. That’s all Bill.

There is a fantastic opportunity to find free books (some), collect swag (tons), and meet people (librarians). The American Library Association Annual Conference is coming to Washington, DC, on the weekend of June 22nd and I’m going to be there. In fact, I’m going to Mitali Perkins’s book launch party from 3:30–5:00 on Saturday, June 23rd, at the DC Public Library. I can invite friends, and I invite you and you and you. (Though you should go here and let Mitali know you’re coming). Liz from A Chair, A Fireplace, and A Tea Cozy will be there. And maybe, just maybe, if we can pry her away from all those publishers greedy for her time, Betsy from Fuse#8 (now at School Library Journal) will come.

After the book launch, we will head to a now-undisclosed location — undisclosed because we don’t know it yet — for munchies and drinks. Meaning...

it’s a KidLit Drink Night in DC!

I’ve got my people working on possible locations, and I’m sure we’ll know soon. But in the meantime, feel free to mark your calendars, arrange for bus fare, call your cousin in Silver Spring for a visit, and print your business cards. If you aren’t into the whole conference thing... well, neither am I. You’ll see me with the exhibits-only pass, trying to chat up any random authors I find — and recognize. Hope to see some of you folks there.

And now it’s time to give props to the many authors and bloggers who donated prizes to the grand prize packages. TadMack and ZG may want to look away, unless they’re the kind that sneak peeks at their Christmas presents. Thanks go to:

• Threadless, who donated the Haiku T-shirt and the Shakespeare hoodie to the contest.


• Tonya Lee Stone, for A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl.


• Celise Downs, for Dance Jam Productions and Secrets and Kisses and cool key clips.


• Sara Lewis Holmes, for Letters from Rapunzel.


• Bonny Becker, for Holbrook: A Lizard’s Tale.


• Jennifer Holm, for Babymouse and Matt Holm, for the original Babymouse sketch.


• Mo Willems, for Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay up Late and winner’s letter.


• Tricia, for the Tibetan prayer flag.


• Beth, for the handmade journal.


• Other Beth, for the handmade jewelry.


• A Wrung Sponge, for original photos and sayings.


• Nancy, for a Starbucks Gift Card.


• And me, for assorted items to balance things out for the two winners.

Again, thank you to the many people who donated items for prizes. Thank you to all the participants who made the 48 HBC happen. Thank you to all those on the sidelines who supported us with links and love. Great time, everyone.

The official winners of the 48 Hour Book Challenge have been announced here — um, obviously — and to make it super-duper official, at Read Roger. Apparently one School Library Journal blogger wrote about it, and I suspect our own Fuse#8 may have a thing to say about it herself. You know she moved, right? She’s all comfy-like in her new digs at the School Library Journal site and getting paid to blog. Wow, does that phrase have a nice ring to it.

But back to business. While I am assembling the prize packages for our contest winners, I did want to send out a few prizes to random participants just for playing. I used the highly touted “have a kid pick random numbers and find those on the official list” method. Then I went to the selected blogs and did a little digging around to (hopefully) best match the prize choices with the blogger. So here we go.

Chapter Eighteen wins a personalized signed copy of Rickshaw Girl from Mitali Perkins.

Miss Rumphius Effect wins a personalized signed copy of A Girl, A Boy, and a Monster Cat (available June 21st!) from Gail Gauthier.

Lessons from the Tortoise wins a personalized signed copy of The Dark Dreamweaver — with T-shirt — from Nick Ruth.

The Hidden Side of a Leaf wins Robin Brande’s something-that’s-not-chocolate give-away since I saw the photo of her TBR pile, and it seems as if no more books are needed at this juncture.

Saints and Spinners wins a personalized signed copy of Lissy’s Friends — with Lissy doll — from Grace Lin, by request of contest winner TadMack, and agreement by me, for Alkelda’s rough start in the contest and subsequently funny post.

Prize winners, please send me an email and let me know where we can send your prizes and how you want the dedication written.

Authors, thank you so very much for your contributions to the 48 HBC.

Tomorrow will be for giving props for the donations to the winners prize packages. I’ll also make a special announcement about how you can meet at least three kidlit bloggers and at least one cool author before the end of June. Intrigued? I’ll open with the information tomorrow.

Usually I leave the BB Blog posts to Fuse#8, because she does generally catch the best ones, but I couldn’t resist these book sheets for your bed. So simple and yet so interesting. You can see more here, but it appears to be an artistic project rather than a commercial product. Darn.

Would the sheets count for the 48 Hour Book Challenge, now mere days away? Probably not, as the books read need to be the teen and older-kid versions, like in the two-hundred-page range. Re-reading books is fine. Adult books are fine. Graphic novels not so much. Not that there is anything wrong with them. Some of my best books are graphic novels. But for this challenge, we don’t want to be comparing apples and oranges in terms of page counts and books read.

I have to mention that unlike what my horoscope said, today did not turn out to be one of the best days of the year. I actually felt kind of sicky a lot of the day, which pretty much sucks. I did enjoy going to the second grade Parents’ Breakfast, where I saw my daughter’s “author’s portfolio” and then ate some doughnuts and scones. The scone was definitely a highlight of the day.

Speaking of sweets, Robin Brande offered to send something delectable to the 48 HBC winner. Chocolate is her trademark gift, but a little melty for the summer. Maybe it will be something in the gummy family. I’ve also had some gift card offers that I’ve got to figure out how to use. Still waiting on John Green and Brotherhood 2.0 to weigh in. Given my horoscope, I thought today would be the day...

Yesterday I wanted to do another post in the countdown to the 48 Hour Book Challenge but I was unable to after the approximately twelve hours I spent on Girl Scout stuff. And I’m not talking a camping, all-day event. No, because that would make sense. It was hours preparing for the meeting, two hours of actual meeting, hours more sorting through the paperwork and financial forms due that evening, and hours at the leaders’ meeting. Then, because I obviously have some sort of time-boundary issues, I spent an extra hour going through the three hundred photos the girls took with my camera this year to get a decent collection to put on CDs for each girl.

Anyway, I’m reading the newspaper this morning. Specifically I was reading the comics, and my eyes drifted over to the horoscopes. Mine today:

GEMINI: It’s your lucky day to ask for everything. Don’t hold back. There are blessings to be had lining up faster than callers on your call log. Such unparalleled generosity makes your day one of the best of the year.

Damn. That sounds kind of... good.

So today I’m asking for everything. Not holding back. Waiting here for your unparalleled generosity for prizes for 48 Hour Book Challenge. I received an email from Tricia with the offer of a very long prayer flag from Tibet. I’m not even sure what that is, but it sounds awesome! I know that other bloggers, authors, and illustrators are out there ready to send me something great. Apparently, today is the day to contact me about it. I mean, it’s not like my horoscope could be wrong.

Scroll to the end of my blogroll for the Email MotherReader! button, and send me a line. This would also be a good day if any publishers, agents, or editors would like to make inquires about getting me to write a book of essays on parenting and life. I’m just saying.

You know you want it. This original artwork and new Babymouse book could be yours. With five days to go, the countdown to the 48 Hour Book Challenge starts now.

(Well, five days if you don’t count today, which is really just about over. And technically, since you could start on Friday morning, maybe it would make more sense to say it’s four days away. Oh, and taking out sleeping and meals it will feel like three days...)

Big A, little a tagged me with a meme. Each player lists eight facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags eight people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Since I’ve listed one hundred things about me (and I highly recommend it as a self-knowledge/writing exercise), and since I’m soooo ready for summer, I’ve decided to make all of my eight things relevant to the summer season.

1. Yesterday I got my first sunburn of the summer because the sunscreen I brought to the pool was really greasy and I didn’t want to put it on.


2. However, I slathered my kids in it until they looked like they’d been rolling in ranch dressing. They did not burn.


3. I really love the beach and usually by this time of year I would have gotten my sorry butt there at least once. The thought that I have to wait another three weeks is making me itchy.


4. I start painting my toenails again starting in May and changing the colors all the time from red to pink to blue to green, depending on my mood.


5. I can execute a pretty dive into the pool, though I’m sure it was a more beautiful thing to watch before I packed an extra thirty pounds on my frame.


6. Speaking of extra poundage, I now think shopping for a bathing suit is worse then getting a cavity filled. At least at the dentist you get something for the pain.


7. It’s been almost twenty years since I was in school, but I always feel a bit surprised — and a little resentful — that I don’t have the whole summer off.


8. I still love summer so much that the smell of Coppertone is one of my favorite scents.

Now I tag recent contributors of prizes for the 48 Hour Book Challenge:

• Adcock News, who is sending a necklace and bracelet set.


• Just Books, who gives a lovely, handmade journal and coffee cozy.


• Wands and Words, who is giving us a Dark Dreamweavers T-shirt and signed book


• A Wrung Sponge, who will allow me to frame one or more of her beautiful photos.


• Mitali Perkins, who is donating a signed copy of Rickshaw Girl. Oh, and if you follow the link, you can weigh in on her next book cover.

I just realized that the next three blogs I was going to mention will either be unable or unwilling to respond, but there’s nothing that says I can’t use them anyway, so...

• Miss Rumphius Effect, who is bringing something back from China where she is right actually now.


• Original Content, who is donating a signed book and who hates personal memes (and who is welcome to make it eight habits/facts as a writer and/or reader).


• Mo Willems steps up or caves in to contribute an original doodle. He’s spending his next week getting ready for Book Expo and an exciting lecture entitled Making Milk Snort Out of Your Kid’s Nose: Experts Explain, which will benefit a Brooklyn library.

There’s still time to contribute prizes for the 48 Hour Book Challenge, now only ten days away and counting. Scroll down to the end of my blogroll and Email MotherReader!

The short film Bill and I made featuring the writing of Robin Brande has been chosen for the Best of DC screening at the AFI Silver Theatre. While we originally thought that the only the top twelve would be featured in two repeat screenings, instead twenty-two films were selected. So, we’re in the top quarter. I was actually going to hold off on my film news until I had something more definitive to report, but eh, whatever. If you are becoming intrigued by the whole process of making a film in two days, stop by the Tohubohu blog for links to several of the films and participants. The WIT film — WIT standing for Washington Improv Theater — is particularly funny and the strongest competitor.

Speaking of two-day projects, the 48 Hour Book Challenge is a bit more than two weeks away! Start collecting your to-be-read pile of older elementary and teen books. Remember that there will be prizes for most books read, most pages read (if different), and most hours spend reading/reviewing. There will also be prizes given out to random participants just to keep it fun.

What kind of prizes? Well, I have received a T-shirt and hoodie from Threadless in my first non-kidlitosphere prize. Yeah to asking for what you want. I also have a signed Babymouse book from Jennifer Holm and a virtual pinky-swear for an original Babymouse drawing. Grace Lin will be contributing the Lissy’s Friends book and doll. Mitali Perkins throws in a signed Rickshaw Girl, as Gail Gauthier puts A Girl, A Boy, and A Monster Cat in the mix. Tanya Lee Stone promises the signed paperback of A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, with a bonus reader’s guide.

If you have a picture book manuscript you’d like someone official to give a look-see, Bonny Becker will offer her assistance as a professional critiquer and writing advisor — along with her own middle-grade novel Holbrook: A Lizard’s Tale.

Prize baskets will also include assorted items of immeasurable worth, such as framed photography from A Wrung Sponge (I had to beg her, but it’s worth it), some special surprise item from China from Miss Rumphius, my famous paper bead necklace, and probably four other things that I’m forgetting.

I would still love more prizes, so if you’d like to contribute, look to the bottom of my blogroll for the ever-exciting Email MotherReader! button and send me a message.

There’s something I’ve seen in the world of mommy bloggers called Love Thursday, and today I’d like to contribute to that tradition.

Love is…

... knowing you are supposed to wear your haiku T-shirt when you go into your fifth grader’s class to read, because you’re reading poetry and because you promised fifth grader you would wear it, but then you spill tiny drops of makeup on the chest and the drops of make-up are very noticeable and might stain, so you wash them off but get a little overzealous and end up getting half of the shirt soaking wet, but since you have to wear it in ten minutes you throw it in the dryer, not realizing that ten minutes is not going to be enough because when you take it out, the shirt is still pretty damp, but you’ve got to leave so you wear it anyway because you said that you would.

A Haiku T-shirt will be among the prize packages in the 48 Hour Book Challenge, with thanks to Threadless for the donation.

Cool prizes to offer? Scroll down to the ever-exciting “Email MotherReader!” button and make me an offer I can’t refuse.

Omigod! I have almost fifty people signed up for the 48 Hour Book Challenge! Most are from the kidlitosphere. Some are reading moms and kid lit lovers. Some of the bloggers are old friends. Well, old in blog time, which is anything more than six months. Some blogs are new to me, like Nonfiction Readers Anonymous. (Oh, nonanon, you don’t have to read the 48 hours straight. Just challenge yourself to read as much as you can in a 48 hour window during that weekend. Great blog name, btw.) I’ll be visiting some of the new-to-me blogs next week, once I get my other project finished. But great turnout, people! Keep the sign-ups coming!

I have some great offers of donated prizes, but could certainly use more. It would be best if it were book-related, but anything can be book-related if you really try. You may not be able to top these (ahem, fake) prizes, but it’s not like you can’t try. Roger is actually in for one “stoked,” which is like a little prize for everyone.

On a related note of donations (I hope), the famous haiku shirt has been reprinted over at Threadless. I kid you not. Thanks to Check It Out for letting me know, and for apparently nagging them endlessly until they reprinted it. Now we can all work on the reprint of I’m A Noun!, the shirt owned by MotherReader and her two kids, for the hippest mother/daughter outfits ever.

Our own Fuse#8 went and got herself published in the Horn Book, with an article on kit lit blogging and a list of recommended sites. Mega-tastic! (Note: after googling that term, it turns out it may not be in the slang vernacular after all. It’s more like I made it up. Which, actually, might make it even funnier if it appeared on the Horn Book blog.)

In a MotherReader rarity, I plan to post again today. My April book reviewing — or book sharing — was a little light, and now my reviews are backing up like a public toilet at RFK Stadium (Go Nats!)